When I told my claustrophobic father I was going to be locked into a windowless room, forced to solve puzzles to escape, his immediate reaction was mild anxiety. “You don’t have to do this,” he said, repeatedly. “If anything goes wrong, call me, I’ll come help you.”

I get that. I have issues with heights, and my guts coil when I see people climb rock-faces. But I had to emphasize to him that there was zero threat of danger in Real Escape Game, a new Toronto-based version of a growing and popular niche activity, based on “escape the room” sub-genre video games, particularly The Room and 999.

But this version is live action.

While video games classically borrow from reality, Real Escape Game borrows from its virtual version. Originally thought up in 2006 by Japanese game designer Takao Kato, the game puts participants in a group that must search for artifacts and puzzles contained in a locked room that will help them escape. It’s an IRL take on the ‘Room Escape’ game genre. Kato saw one of his classmates playing a similar game on her computer and thought of what it would be like to play it for real.

Real Escape Game takes the video game design and applies it to the physical world. But unlike the video game versions, players have to sign a waiver before entering the game space—because you’re actually going to be locked up for an hour. That being said, even if there’s an easy Saw series comparison to be made, the highest the stakes actually get is that there are no pee breaks. “Live or die,” as they say.